nd left, mostly small amounts
but lots of them. But it took quite a bit of time to file claims and so
on. And also, a man spent all he made buying insurance to protect
himself. It was a wicked circle. Nobody could quit buying insurance and
nobody dared quit filing claims. That's when the government took over.
They simplified things. Once a day you turn your slips into Central and
the Machine audits your account. That's all there is to it."

"But there's nothing else to do," Mark objected. "No entertainment, no
work."

"Why should there be entertainment? Entertainment means work for
somebody. No, Central--which is the government, of course--has
eliminated work for everybody and at the same time has provided
something to keep everybody busy. What work must be done is done by
automatic, self-lubricating, self-repairing, self-renewing machinery."
She sighed. "It's a brave new world. Everything is neatly worked out.
Everybody spends all their time gathering points to offset the points
they lose gathering points--and nobody seems to mind except a few rebels
like you and me. I saw that rebellious look in your eyes when you signed
my slip. That's why I invited you to come along with me. But, as I said,
Central keeps everybody busy all day and half the night trying to
balance themselves. There's no labor problem, no unemployment, no
relief, no worry about anything." She paused, to dip the vitamins out of
the dissolver. "The only catch is--it's so damned monotonous."

Mark blinked, but Penelope whirled on him, the dissolver in one hand.
"Why do you think I sit out there and put on my act all day long? Not to
get points, though I confess the points are the measure of my
success--but because life is too dull otherwise." She dished out the
vitamins.

"You say the government did all this?"

"Yes."

A thought struck Mark. "Who is the government?"

Penelope was filling glasses from the ice-water faucet. She turned her
head and stared at him like a bright-eyed bird. "To tell you the truth,
Mark, as far as I know the men who used to make up the government
disappeared after the last war, about the time all this automatic
machinery was put in. We used to have an election every so often, but I
haven't heard that word for twenty-five years. Do you know what I
think?"

"No," Mark said attentively.

"I don't think there is any more government!" Penelope said
dramatically. "I think all that's left are the Machine and Central Audit